That’s what he’d said.
I crouched beside Elena and lifted her head. She looked nothing like the beautiful woman I had seen in my father’s kitchen after a sleepover. She was barely recognizable.
She looked at me. Clear-eyed, which was the part that never leaves me. I saw her pleading, but it wasn’t to save her. She knew she was beyond saving.
She reached for my wrist. Her grip was almost nothing.
“Please,” she whispered. The words were barely audible. Blood bubbled at the corner of her mouth. “My daughter.”
I didn’t know Elena had a daughter. My father never mentioned it. But looking at this dying woman, I knew I was about to make a promise I’d regret.
“Sofia.” She coughed, and more blood came up. “She’s only thirteen. She doesn’t know.” Another cough. “She doesn’t know what her father is. What this world will do to her.”
“Elena—"
“Promise me.” Her grip tightened with surprising strength. “Promise me you’ll protect her. When I’m gone, she’ll have no one. Mikhail will—" She couldn’t finish. We both knew what Mikhail would do. Use his daughter. Trade her. Marry her off to the highest bidder or the most useful alliance.
Or kill her if she became inconvenient.
“I promise,” I heard myself say.
“Swear it. On your life. On your honor.” Her eyes were pleading. Desperate. “She’s innocent. She’s good. This world will destroy her.”
“I swear it. On my life. I’ll keep her safe.”
The tension left her body. Relief flooded her face. “Thank you.”
Those were her last words.
I held her as she took her last, labored breath.
For eight years, I’ve watched Sofia Baranova grow from a sheltered thirteen-year-old into the queen she is now. I’ve seen her survive an assault that should have broken her. I’ve watched her train herself to fight back. I’ve seen her step into her father’s world with more courage than most men twice her age.
Eight years. I kept my promise. What I didn't account for was that the woman she became would have me questioning everything.
I’ve spent years telling myself it’s just the promise.
But it’s more than that. Has been for a while now.
Tomorrow, she becomes my wife. She’ll wear my ring. Take my name. Sleep under my roof.
And she has no idea why I’m really doing this.
She thinks it’s business. Strategy. An alliance between two criminal empires.
She doesn’t know about her mother. Doesn’t know I held Elena while she died. Doesn’t know I’ve been watching over her since she was thirteen years old.
Thirteen.Ilet the number sit for exactly one second before I shut it down. She was never mine to want then. She was a promise. A child I kept alive from a distance. Whatever this is now, it began long after that.
She'll find out. Eventually. Secrets never stay buried. It’ll be up to me to tell her the truth. I don’t trust her father not to try and sabotage this alliance.
And I’m almost certain he will. Part of me wants to be the one that delivers the news about our nuptials. The old bastard is going to be so pissed.
I win.
If Yuri attempts to kill my wife, that will ignite a war. I will have every right to retaliate. I almost wish he would. I think I’d enjoy killing him. That’s one job I would handle myself.
One more night of this.